We should thank profusely the Internet technology, which has opened up the doors (or shall I say Windows - of the Microsoft?) to get friends from countries, thousands of miles away from yours.
Let alone making friendships - some 30 or 35years back, you cannot even imagine getting acquainted with a person living in some other continent, except by an airmail letter, specifically written to him or her.
And it took ages to get a reply; if at all that person takes the pain of replying, by writing a letter back to you, affixing the postal stamps and posting it in a mail box.
Is it not amazing that today, we just open our system and Internet connection and click the email to write to him/her - or better still chat through typing or direct voice? Surely it is.
Thus making friends with somebody, who you did not know ever existed in this world till then, has been made tremendously easy - courtesy: social sites.
Take my personal experience.
I am a freelance writer online, writing according to assignments given to me by the clients.
I write articles, blogs, web contents, eBook texts, reviews and so on.
Apart from writing for money, I am contributing write up stuff on my own to free article publishing sites of fame.
I stumble upon new contacts, when they comment on my writings; or when I express myself in various social sites; and after some initial introduction both ways, they become my friends.
I have innumerable friends this way from America, Australia and Trinidad to quote a few, apart from my own country - India.
It gives me immense pleasure, when these friends - from both the genders - exchange views on an array of worldly matters, as if you are a close friend living next door.
Thinking of it, one thing becomes crystal clear - wherever you live and whatever you do - the human nature is one, irrespective of differences arising out of countries, languages, cast, creed, ethnic background and other barriers - that separate the mankind.
The human feelings are one and the same - joyous when something good is happening; angry when meeting with some unfairness; sympathize when people suffer; and getting sad when losing something or somebody - Oh! The list goes on and on.
In such times we tend to forget totally - whether you are an Indian, or American or Australian.
The simple truth remains - we are human souls immersing into our own feelings.
It is always intriguing when you come across something interesting from their experience - leave alone the personal life experiences - relating to the environment they are living in.
For example, my American friend living in Virginia in U.
S.
complains she is feeling the heat during summer there, is unbearable; and curses - the temperature is touching 28 degrees Celsius.
It looks funny for me - a South Indian - accustomed to temperatures shooting over 40 plus degrees.
Still I pity her, knowing well she is living in a place where throughout the year the weather conditions are entirely different from my country.
I offer her some soothing words; she feels grateful; which makes the friendship still closer to heart.
At the same time, I wonder with awe how two individual personalities, hailing from totally two different backgrounds, heritages, cultures, environments, food habits, religious faiths and such other things relating to one's lifestyle, can be united by pure love - (hey don't jump up to conclusions - both of us are senior citizens) - I mean not the physical passion, but love of the minds here.
While I have high regards on the sophisticated lifestyle of Americans, being a wealthy country topping the world's economy, she is respecting India for the cultural heritage and traditional values of life.
And truly speaking, we have a lot of things between us to cherish; exchange views on; scold; admire; condemn; enjoy; benefit from; search for; explore and arrive at an understanding.
This is what a friendship remains for, between two human minds and souls, united by love; and the distance of thousands of miles between us just vanishes into thin air! I will pour more thoughts gushing in my mind on this in my next and until then bye for now...
folks! Meantime I welcome your views and comments also.